PAM. 

JAPAN 


(^oar^img  ,^c§ooC 

NAGASAKI 


...No.  5. 


JAPAN 


Price  3 cents 


BY  MRS.  J.  T.  GRACEY 


KWASSUI  JO  GAKKO 


NAGASAKI  BOARDING  SCHOOL. 


AGASAKI  is  the  leading  city  and  seat  of  government  of  the  island 
of  Kiushiu  in  Southern  Japan.  It  is  an  interesting  historic  old 
town,  beaQtiful  for  situation.  It  is  750  miles  from  Tokyo,  and  has 
a population  of  one  hundred  thousand.  A stream  of  water  crossed 
by  twenty-one  bridges  flows  through  the  city,  and  the  surround- 
ing hills  are  covered  with  teinpl'es  and  groves.  This  island  suffered  sorely  from 
the  effects  of  Jesuitical  interferences  in  political  affairs;  and  Nagasaki  for  many 
years  was  the  centre  of  the  ecclesiastical  power  which  resulted  so  disastrously 
in  persecution  and  the  massacre  of  many  native  Christians. 

Nagasaki  was  opened  for  missionary  work  by  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  in  1873.  It  has  for  years  been  a great  missionary  centre.  It  is  also  a 
commercial  centre,  and  has  of  late  taken  on  new  importance,  largely  as  the  result 
of  the  completion  of  a railroad,  and  the  more  complete  opening  of  Korea  and 
China. 

The  work  of  the  Woman’s  Foreign  Missionary  Society  in  this  field  has  been 
of  peculiar  interest  and  growth.  In  1879,  Elizabeth  Russell  of  Wheeling,  Va., 


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and  Jennie  M.  Gheer  of  Altoona,  Pa.,  were  appointed  to  this  new  and  untried 
field.  They  reached  Nagasaki,  November  23.  The  prospect  for  work  did  not 
seem  inviting,  but  on  December  i they  opened  a school  with  one  pupil,  and 
closed  the  following  July  with  nine.  This  was  the  first  girls’  school  in  Southern 
Japan.  Two  teachers  and  one  scholar  was  not  a very  promising  start,  but  now 
(1901)  this  school  is  recognized  as  the  highest  school  for  girls  in  the  Empire. 
Those  early  days  were  days  of  heroic  effort  met  by  every  form  of  discouragement. 
In  spite  of  opposition  that  amounted  to  persecution,  the  school  grew. 

A young  theological  student  asked  the  privilege  of  naming  the  school,  and 
when  his  request  was  granted  he  called  it  the  “ Kwassui  Jo  Gakko.”  He  said  he 
found  “Kwassui”  in  a Chinese  poem,  and  that  it  had  the  meaning  of  water 
flowing  down  refreshing  the  land.  Its  primary  meaning  is  a fountain  of  living 
water.  “Jo”  means  girl,  and  “Gakko”  is  the  common  word  for  school.  So  it 
all  means  “Fountain  of  Living  Water  Girls’  School.” 

These  missionaries  toiled  quietly,  but  with  determination,  and  the  following 
year  the  number  of  pupils  doubled.  In  1881  an  appropriation  of  $8,000  was 
made  to  erect  a suitable  building.  A fine  lot  had  been  secured,  and  in  August 
of  that  year  ground  was  broken  and  the  dwelling  part  furnished  in  May,  1882. 
Joseph  Cook,  who  was  at  that  time  in  Japan,  delivered  the  dedicatory  address, 


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which  was  a very  forceful  plea  for  woman’s  education  in  the  Orient.  This  new 
building  accommodated  about  one  hundred.  It  stands  on  an  eminence  overlook- 
ing the  city  and  harbor,  and  is  a situation  of  rare  beauty.  The  school  had 
increased  to  forty-three  when  the  new  building  was  opened.  The  missionaries 
were  frequently  reminded,  not  only  by  the  Japanese,  but  also  by  the  foreign  com- 
munity, that  they  were  not  wanted  in  Nagasaki.  When  the  new  building  was 
nearly  completed  a leaflet  was  distributed  in  the  community,  entitled  “The  Con- 
versation of  a Tailor  with  his  Wife,”  in  which  the  new  building  and  the  mission- 
aries were  sarcastically  treated.  A few  days  after,  a poem  appeared,  entitled 
“A  Foreign  Mission  in  Nagasaki,”  of  very  much  the  same  character.  The 
school,  however,  w’ent  on,  and  grew  in  favor  with  the  Japanese,  and  the  blessing 
of  God  was  upon  it.  A most  wonderful  revival  visited  the  school  in  1883,  when 
the  whole  body  of  students,  with  the  exception  of  the  little  children,  were 
converted.  The  genuine  Christian  character  of  some  of  the  girls  who  were  con- 
verted at  this  time  is  shown  from  the  following  incident.  One  of  them  returned 
home,  and  suffered  stripes  and  imprisonment,  all  kinds  of  persecution  and  indig- 
nity from  her  family,  to  force  her  to  deny  her  new-found  faith,  but  she  was  firm, 
saying  she  could  die,  but  could  not  deny  Christ.  One  of  the  teachers  visited 
her  and  found  her  face  and  body  bruised  and  swollen  where  her  brother  had 


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kicked  her.  They  could  not  protect  her,  as  the  family  refused  to  give  her  up. 
Then  they  appealed  to  the  law,  but  the  judge  said,  “She  is  only  a woman,  and 
Japan  has  no  protection  for  her.  She  is  under  the  power  of  her  father,  then  her 
husband,  then  her  first-born  son,  and  dares  not  say  her  soul  or  body  is  her  own.” 
Notwithstanding  all  this  she  remained  firm. 

The  first  Sunday-school  was  organized  in  1880,  with  only  pupils  of  the  school 
which  later  formed  the  nucleus  of  the  church  Sunday-school.  It  was  the  plan 
of  the  founders  to  lay  broad  foundations  for  this  school,  so  that  it  should  develop 
into  departments,  with  specialists  at  the  head  of  each.  Music,  art,  literature, 
natural  sciences  and  the  industrial  departments  have  all  been  successful,  and 
many  trained  teachers  have  gone  out  from  the  institution. 

Each  head  of  a department  had  her  Bible  and  church  class,  and  every 
influence  \ras  used  to  develop  the  spiritual  life  of  the  student. 

Literature  and  King’s  Daughters  societies  were  formed,  and  a society  of  the 
Woman’s  Christian  Temperance  Union  started,  showing  they  were  seeking  a 
broader  culture  and  taking  hold  of  the  living  questions  of  the  day. 

Emma  Everding  of  Syracuse,  N.  Y.,  was  sent  to  Nagasaki  in  1883  and  aided 
in  teaching  music  and  science.  By  the  donations  of  fine  apparatus  by  friends,  a 
department  of  physics  was  established,  and  through  the  beneficence  of  Mrs. 

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Sleeper  Davis  of  Boston,  an  outfit  for  a chemical  laboratory  was  added.  In  1885, 
Miss  Elliot  of  Ohio  went  to  the  field.  In  1888,  Miss  Bing  and  Miss  Allen  of 
Ohio  arrived.  In  1888  the  first  class  in  the  Biblical  course  graduated,  and  these 
students  were  the  first  Bible  readers. 

In  1889,  Miss  Imhof  took  charge  of  the  industrial  department,  it  having 
grown  to  take  many  branches.  In  April  of  that  year  the  late  lamented  Miss 
Simons  joined  the  faculty.  It  was  this  year  that  the  health  of  Miss  Everding  was 
impaired  and  she  was  compelled  to  leave,  and  Miss  Russell  accompanied  her  home. 

The  school  had  grown  and  was  overflowing,  and  a second  building  seemed 
a necessity,  for  the  accommodation  was  for  one  hundred  pupils,  and  one  hundred 
and  seventy-five  were  in  attendance. 

The  idea  of  a college  had  been  growing  in  the  minds  of  the  friends,  but  even 
some  of  the  missionaries  smiled  at  the  mention  of  such  an  idea.  Miss  Russell, 
while  home,  agitated  the  matter,  and  the  General  Executive  Committee  of  1889 
passed  the  following  resolution  : 

Sympathizing  with  the  desire  of  Miss  Russell  to  provide  a Woman's  College 
in  Nagasaki,  we  authorize  her  to  receive  whatever  money  she  may  be  able  to  col- 
lect for  the  purpose,  to  be  used  by  her  whenever  the  whole  amount  asked  shall  be 
thus  raised. 


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In  1890  the  following  action  was  taken  : 

Resolved,  that  we  reaffirm  the  sympathy  expressed  last  year  with  Miss 
Russell  in  her  efforts  to  provide  a school  of  higher  grade  in  Nagasaki,  and  shall 
rejoice  in  all  gifts  she  shall  receive  for  this  purpose,  these  gifts  to  be  credited  to 
the  Branches  from  which  they  come. 

Miss  Russell  secured  $4,000  while  on  this  visit,  and  some  of  the  gifts  had  a 
sacred  significance.  The  very  first  was  the  contents  of  a little  mite  box— just  four 
little  gold  dollars.  At  each  birthday  a dollar  was  dropped  into  baby’s  mite  box 
by  loving  hands ; but  before  the  fifth  birthday  came  round  the  little  one  had  gone 
to  tne  home  beyond,  and  the  sorrowing  mother,  with  prayers,  turned  over  the 
treasure  to  this  college  fund. 

After  many  difficulties,  some  occasioned  by  the  breaking  out  of  the  war, 
the  additional  buildings  were  completed,  and  the  chapel  was  dedicated  by  Bishop 
Walden,  June  23,  1894. 

In  1895  the  school  had  an  enrollment  of  195,  of  whom  136  were  boarders, 
with  a teaching  force  of  seventeen  regular  teachers  and  four  tutors.  Six  gradu- 
ates went  out  that  year  for  distinctively  religious  work. 

The  young  ladies  of  the  higher  classes  started  a Japanese  paper  called  The 


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Kwassui  Quarterly^  and  much  red  tape  interfered  before  government  permission 
could  be  secured  for  such  a new  venture. 

In  1897,  Miss  Young  and  Miss  Melton  joined  the  force  of  teachers.  This 
same  year  a department  of  physical  culture  was  added,  from  which  great  benefit 
was  derived  in  improved  health  to  the  pupils. 

The  industrial  department  is  now  under  the  supervision  of  those  trained  in 
the  school,  and  annual  exhibitions  of  the  industries  are  made.  This  includes 
wood-carving,  drawn  work,  embroidery,  lace  making,  etc. 

In  189s  the  Nagasaki  Band  of  Chambersburg,  Pennsylvania,  donated 
a kindergarten  outfit,  and  a department  for  the  little  folks  has  been  found 
very  popular.  Permission  was  given  under  the  new  laws  of  Japan  in  1899  to 
establish  the  school,  and  the  government  allows  children  under  six  years  to 
attend. 

Owing  to  the  Imperial  edict  that  all  schools  should  be  established  under  or 
in  conformity  with  Japanese  law,  it  has  taken  time  to  pass  through  all  the  forms 
deemed  necessary,  as  the  school  has  so  many  departments,  and  it  was  difficult  to 
arrange  everything  according  to  law,  and  also  difficult  to  apply  the  law  to  the 
mechanism  of  the  school.  But  it  is  happily  accomplished.  At  commencement  in 
June,  1900,  one  girl  graduated  in  the  scientific  course,  one  in  art  course  and  one  in 


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music,  and  five  in  Bible  training  course.  These  girls  finished  the  academic  school 
and  entered  college  in  September,  while  the  five  Bible  women  left  for  their  different 
fields  of  labor,  one  to  the  Loo  Choo  Islands.  The  clause  in  government  instruc- 
tions about  teaching  children  under  fourteen  religious  truths  took  some  forty 
children  from  this  school. 

Many  of  the  students  have  been  converted,  and  a spirit  of  revival  is  ever 
present,  but  the  number  of  conversions  among  the  students  does  not  by  any 
means  measure  the  good  that  has  come  to  the  church  through  the  school ; opposi- 
tion to  Christianity  has  been  softened,  prejudice  against  it  has  been  uprooted, 
parents  and  friends  have  been  led  to  the  Saviour  by  the  students,  and  all  over 
the  island,  when  the  students  have  returned  to  their  homes  for  vacation,  they  have 
busily  sown  the  Gospel  seed.  Bible  women  who  have  graduated  from  the 
school  are  now  telling  the  “old,  old  story”  with  signal  success.  Graduates  from 
the  Liberal  Arts  Department  are  doing  efficient  service  as  teachers.  Every  one 
who  has  taken  a diploma  from  the  institution  has  been  a Christian. 

The  outcome  of  the  Nagasaki  school  has  been  the  Fukuoka  girls’  school  with 
its  various  Sunday-schools,  the  Koga  Orphanage,  a preaching  place  and  Sunday- 
schools,  twelve  Sunday-schools  in  Nagasaki  and  one  preaching  place,  various 
women’s  meetings,  work  in  Kagoshima  and  the  Loo  Choo  Islands. 


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Surely  this  record  calls  for  gratitude  from  all  who  have  so  nobly  and  gener- 
ously supported  this  school.  It  has  been  as  a city  set  on  a hill,  and  its  light  has 
been  seen  in  all  directions. 

At  present  (1901)  there  is  an  enrollment  of  over  200  girls,  no  of  whom 
are  boarders. 

Associated  with  Miss  Russell  in  the  management  and  development  of  this 
Christian  school  have  been  a number  of  earnest  consecrated  women. 


1 1 


Boarding  School  Series 

BY 

MRS.  J.  T.  GRACEY 

No.  1.  Moradabad  .....  India 

No.  2.  Foochow  ......  China 

No.  3.  Calcutta  ......  India 

No.  4.  Peking  ......  China 

No.  5.  Nagasaki  ......  Japan 

No.  6.  Tokyo  ......  Japan 

PRICE  3 CENTS  EACH 

SEXD  OBDE113  TO  PLTIJLIC  VTtOV  OFFICE  OF 

Woman's  Foreign  Missionary  Society  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 

36  Bromfield  Street,  Boston. 


